2017 Seneca 37TS What is my risk(batteries)

[Oma/opa]

I only have one more outing scheduled for this year before winterizing the MH and putting it in storage for the winter. That being the case, what do you think my risk is given the following:
House batteries...1 dead, 2 dying(discharge rapidly...1 in good shape for now. We always stay where there is power and only need the batteries for slide out usage and starting the generator.
My dilemma is I would prefer to postpone the purchase of new batteries until next spring to get full advantage of the warranty.

Also, since we do not use a lot of battery power, I am thinking of replacing the current deep cycle batteries with automotive type( either series 27 or 31) to take advantage of the longer warranty.. Is the reasonable?

[SloPoke]

I agree with waiting, but disconnect the dead and dying from the good one while in storage, so you have one to keep things working if needed. If one of the dying happens to die while in storage, it will pull the good one down with it.

We changed our house batteries to Group31 dual purpose batteries because we could get them at a real low cost - and- our use patterns have very low risk of deep cycling them. They should last nearly as long as an expensive deep cycle battery how we use them.

If that pattern fits - it is certainly more economical for a motorhome with a genny. If it was installed in a TT with a portable genny, then the decision might be much different.

[Oma/opa]

Slopoke
Will the slide outs function if I am connected to shore power and only have 1 battery connected?

[chfraser01]

Thanks SloPoke for the suggestion on the battery substitution. Like you, we rarely are without electric service and if we are, we are running the genny. Great idea!

[SloPoke]

Originally Posted by Oma/opa

Slopoke
Will the slide outs function if I am connected to shore power and only have 1 battery connected?

Good Question... So I went out and looked at the wires running to the motor of our dining/couch slide out on our Seneca. They look to be #10 and I confirmed that on the wiring diagram from jayco. So a #10 conductor is nominally rated for 30A.

While I have not done this ourselves, I think that you will be within limits to bring the slides in/out as long as one battery is connected to your motor home and you have the power converter plugged in so that it is charging the battery (offsetting the missing batteries under a larger load)

As I look at it, under the worst conditions possible if you were to run the slide in/out for an hour, that would still be less than 30A/hr of drain from the one batteries capacity (but would be close/or result in one deep cycle for that single battery) **I strongly discourage anyone to try this though, the slide motors are not rated at 100% duty cycles, they would overheat before the battery discharged if run for an hour straight.